Gabbing in the 'Gong

Had a great time yesterday with one of the guys I'm mentoring--my mate!

We drove down to the 'Gong (Wollongong) several hours before the Sydney Kings’ last pre-season game with the Hawks...stopped to pray first...and then dropped by the home of an injured rugby player that I met a couple of weeks ago...picked him up...and settled in at a local coffee shop nearby for a huge mug of hot chocolate.

My mate did a great job sharing the story of his spiritual journey with the injured player...and then walked him through little booklet entitled "Knowing God Personally". The lights seemed to go on once or twice in the player's eyes, but at the end of the presentation, he didn't feel that he could really "mean it" (if he were to say a prayer of invitation at that time). We answered a couple of the questions that had arisen in the discussion and assured him that he could say that prayer whenever he could really mean it...and he would enter into God's family.

Just to see whether or not he really understood the "mechanics" we were suggesting, I asked him what he would actually do if (or when) he came to a point in his life where he was ready to enter into a relationship with God. His response was simply "get off the throne and ask Jesus to come into my life by saying a prayer like the one in the booklet". My mate and I gave each other a knowing look and realized that we had done all we could do at that point in time.

We chatted a bit more, expressed our availability to the player, dropped him back by his home, and headed off to the game…where the Kings were severely trounced!

Couple of lessons here...

1. Always remember...

"Success in evangelism is simply sharing Christ...in the power of the Spirit...and leaving the results to God." Even though the player wasn't ready to respond to Christ (yet!), we were "successful" because we met the criteria above. (Sometimes the hardest bit of this equation is "to leave the results to God".)

2. A new experience of an old lesson...

Just because you are obedient (and faithful) in sharing the gospel with others…it doesn't mean your team will win their next basketball game!

Anyhow...I was really encouraged by my mate's heart for God and others...and with his rapidly developing skills in communicating spiritual truth.

God is great...God is good!